HOUSE CLEARS ENERGY AND WATER SPENDING BILL: House Republicans passed a fiscal 2015 energy and water spending bill that takes a jab at President Barack Obama’s green energy agenda. The bill, which passed Thursday in a 253-170 largely party-line vote, boosts funding for the Energy Department’s fossil energy programs while slashing renewable energy funds by about $111 million. By offsetting increases in fossil fuel energy research with cuts to “lower-priority programs,” Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers said, “we are moving our nation closer to a balanced energy portfolio.” Darius Dixon was on the scene: http://politico.pro/1ooHPwQ

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Amendment watch: Before the bill crossed the finish line around 9:30 p.m. last night, lawmakers sifted through eight final amendments. Rep. Michael Burgess, again, won approval of an amendment blocking DOE from spending money to enforce efficiency standards for incandescent bulbs (226-193). The House also supported an amendment by Rep. Paul Gosar to prevent spending on DOE’s Climate Model Development and Validation program. Rep. David McKinley managed to peg two amendments to the bill. One prevents any funding in the bill from going to work on just about every major climate change study; the second prevents spending cash on consolidating or closing DOE’s National Energy Technology Lab, or putting the facility’s operations into contractor hands. (NETL, which specializes in fossil energy research, is the only one of DOE’s 17 labs that is owned and operated by the federal government).

Low flow is a no-go: Gosar also won support for an amendment to stymie grants for high-efficiency toilets, and the Arizona Republican was pretty proud of himself. An email blast to reporters last night touted his amendment ending the “Cash for Crappers” program.

Reject pile: Meanwhile, Rep. Steve Stockman’s amendment to prohibit funds in the bill from being used at DOE’s loan office and Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s 1-percent across-the-board cuts were both rejected. Of course, many of the riders are likely to shake out in the final conference — or omnibus — bill.

HAPPY FRIDAY and welcome to Morning Energy, where we’re kind of concerned about the House cafeteria’s new special: rack of lamb with an asbestos reduction. Andrew Restuccia is taking the wheel for Monday’s edition, so send him your best energy news at arestuccia@politico.com, and follow him on Twitter @ AndrewRestuccia, @ Morning_Energy and @ POLITICOPro.

AD WATCH — GREENS HIT ERNST ON ‘VALUES’: The Sierra Club and Environmental Defense Action Fund will launch a new ad today criticizing Joni Ernst, the Republican running for Iowa's open Senate seat, over her call to shutter EPA and the Education Department. “Joni Ernst’s values aren’t for Iowa,” the ad says. The spot, part of a previously reported $1 million anti-Ernst effort, will run for a week in the Des Moines and Cedar Rapids markets. The groups did not say exactly how much of the $1 million is going toward this ad buy; a previous spot connected Ernst to the Koch brothers and Sarah Palin. The new spot: http://youtu.be/DLnSM_tbFPQ. Fact sheet: http://bit.ly/1mE1g80

MORE AD NEWS WATCH — NEXTGEN SLAMS CORBETT: Tom Steyer's NextGen Climate launched a new ad campaign last night slamming incumbent Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett over his connections to the oil and gas industry and implying a tit-for-tat arrangement. Oil and gas companies gave Corbett $1.7 million in political contributions, and he gave them a sweetheart deal on taxes that’s costing Pennsylvania billions,” the ad says, referring to Corbett's opposition to applying an "impact fee" on gas extraction. It calls on Corbett to “release the records of your meetings with donors that you've been hiding. Disclose all the contributions, letters and emails from oil and gas lobbyists who influence you.” NextGen would not disclose how much it is spending on the ad buy. Watch: http://youtu.be/xKfSP_hSl8o

That was fast: Just minutes after NextGen announced the ad, Energy Editor Bob King — on holiday in the Keystone State — emailed ME to say he had seen it on air.

KOCH INDUSTRIES STRIKES OUT AT LCV SPOT: The Kochs are striking back against a League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund ad released this week in New Hampshire and slamming Charles and David Koch as "out-of-state oil billionaires" getting involved on Scott Brown's behalf. A post on KochFacts.com, Koch Industries’ response website, calls the LCV “a partisan activist group that does not disclose its donors” and says the spot “falsely maligns their companies’ business interests. Contrary to the ad’s assertions, Charles Koch and David Koch are opposed to government subsidies of any kind and have been outspoken and consistent in their opposition to subsidies and other instances of the government picking winners and losers.” More: http://bit.ly/1lXMrZo

LCV fires back: “They’re lying once again, as we and others have pointed out previously,” LCV spokesman Jeff Gohringer emailed last night. “Despite their repeated claims to the contrary, the Koch Brothers and their front group, Americans for Prosperity, have worked to keep these oil industry giveaways on the books to pad their bottom line.” He pointed to this piece on the Kochs and oil subsidies: http://bit.ly/1mJt3oK

McCARTHY PANS NYT STORY: In an email to staff yesterday, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy panned a New York Times article on EPA’s proposed greenhouse gas rule for existing power plants that pointed to the heavy influence of an early plan penned by the NRDC. The New York Times article raised the hackles of some staff who felt it undermined their work, according to a source at the agency. According to the article, EPA staff “just cut and pasted” NRDC’s work “and called it a day,” McCarthy wrote, calling the idea “preposterous.” McCarthy thanked the staff for their work and dedication on the project. She credited them with research, investigation, and the legal and policy work to craft the proposed rule. McCarthy’s note to staff: http://politico.pro/1jhPQrm

** Innovation Is Growing In The Corn Fields of America. There is More You Should Know About America’s Biggest Crop. **

OIL LOBBY’S #2 HAS DEMOCRATIC CRED: The oil lobby has a new No. 2 — and he’s a Democrat. Louis Finkel, the American Petroleum Institute’s new executive vice president for government affairs, said Thursday his status as a card-carrying Democrat will be an asset as he lobbies for the oil industry’s interests. It’s clear that Finkel and API are trying to counter the notion that the oil industry is a close ally of the Republican Party. Andrew Restuccia has the story: http://politico.pro/1r0tQE1

COMMERCE DEPARTMENT TO RELEASE FINAL TARIFFS ON OIL COUNTRY TUBES: The Commerce Department will release its final antidumping duty and countervailing duty levels for imports of some oil country tubular goods — products used in drilling oil and natural gas wells — from several countries later today. Preliminary tariff levels announced in February hit Thailand with a 118 percent margin, Vietnam with 111 percent and Indian with 55 percent; the remaining countries saw less than 10 percent duties. However, bipartisan groups of lawmakers from both chambers of Congress and domestic manufacturers have urged Commerce to reverse course on its decision not to impose duties on South Korean imports, which total more than all of the other countries involved combined. Aside from South Korea, the countries included in the investigations are India, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, and Vietnam.

“THAT PARTICULAR CHICKEN IS NO LONGER WITH US” — Sen. Rob Portman sits down with POLITICO’s Mike Allen to talk on the McConnell’s potential to be the Senate Majority Leader, a look ahead to the 2016 RNC convention in 2016 and his upcoming 100-mile bike ride. http://politi.co/1nrkEDN

HISPANIC GROUPS PROMOTES CONSERVATION WITH NEW TOUR: The Hispanic Access Foundation will launch a "Four Stops, One Destination" tour today in which seven Latino college students visit national parks in the West for nine days to promote conservation and urge against oil and gas development. “If we don’t have a balanced approach to energy development, future generations will not be able to enjoy the beauty of these parks as they stand today. And it will be that much more difficult to attract Latinos, and other communities for that matter, to these parks,” said Maite Arce, HAF’s president and CEO. The tour is HAF’s latest effort to boost conservation awareness in the Hispanic community. More info: http://bit.ly/1oKOvZi

WEEKEND WARRIORS: A coalition of groups including the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Public Citizen and Food & Water Watch say several thousand people will march this Sunday from the Capitol reflecting pool to FERC headquarters near Union Station in a rally against expanding LNG exports. Of particular focus is the proposed Cove Point export terminal Maryland that FERC is currently considering. Activist Tim DeChristopher and others participate. Info: http://bit.ly/1lQcJRE

QUICK HITS

— New Jersey officials approve a $260 million tax credit package for a nuclear energy company planning reactors in Camden. Star-Ledger: http://bit.ly/W1G6Yf

— The UN dropws plans to charge NGOs and other groups to hold sideline events at international climate negotiations. Thomson Reuters: http://bit.ly/1jv11gz

— Showtime's climate change docu-series "Years of Living Dangerously" and Fox's series "Cosmos" have been nominated for Emmys. ThinkProgress: http://bit.ly/1niICDg

— ExxonMobil is investing more than a billion dollars to expand diesel production at a refinery in Antwerp. New York Times: http://nyti.ms/1kaD5d7

— A man who stole and then crashed a Model S last week is the first known death in a Tesla vehicle. Bloomberg: http://yhoo.it/1jhSLAh

** America's corn farmers exported $6.3 billion worth of corn last year — one of the few U.S. products with a trade surplus (USDA). Learn more at www.CornFarmersCoalition.org **

** A message from Vet Voice Foundation: Tens of thousands of service members and veterans rely on public lands to hunt, fish, camp and heal from the wounds of war. These lands are part of the American heritage we fought for. As a new President and Congress look to rebuild America's infrastructure, we call on them to make an equal investment in maintaining our public lands and parks for our service members and all Americans. Support for our veterans must extend to investing in and protecting America’s natural heritage, for our children and grandchildren. www.VetVoiceFoundation.org **

Authors:

About The Author

Alex Guillén is an energy reporter for POLITICO Pro, where he covers EPA, regulations and coal, as well as lobbying and campaign finance in the energy realm. He previously wrote the Morning Energy newsletter. He graduated from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., with a degree in anthropology and English. He is an avid reader and TV binger. The Delawarean, thrilled that there are finally Capriotti’s outposts in Washington, lives in Alexandria, Va.